"Come away to a lonely place by yourselves and rest a while” (Mark 6,31). This was Jesus’s invitation to his Apostles after they had been out preaching in his name. The New Testament tells us that Jesus would frequently go to the mountains to pray: to be alone with God.

Many people in today’s world feel the need to “get away from it all”. Work, stress, feverish activity to make ends meet and keep others happy: it’s not unusual for this to be a description of our daily existence. And when we are too busy, we often let our spiritual life suffer: we find that we do not devote enough time to prayer, the reading of the Scriptures. We neglect our friendship with the Lord.

St Benedict tells us that “guests are to be welcomed as Christ” (Rule, 53,1), so Buckfast Abbey, like all Benedictine monasteries, offers people the chance to have time with the Lord; to take a little time out, to spend a few days away from everyday cares. Above all, the Abbey is a place where people can pray. Guests are invited to come to the church for the Divine Office which is celebrated by the monks six times a day and to participate in the daily Mass. The Abbey is also open for private prayer.

Guests are normally welcome to stay for private retreats, for not more than a week. The Abbey is not usually able to offer guided retreats.

Men are able to stay in the guest-house which is an integral part of the monastery building. They join the monks for meals and are asked to come to the Divine Office and to Mass; they spend the rest of the day as they wish, reading, relaxing, praying, walking.

In the same way, women and men are welcomed, either singly or as couples or larger groups, in Southgate, an ancient building close to the monastery which was completely renovated for use as a guest house in 1992. This renovation enabled some provision to be made for the accommodation of wheelchair users.